Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a low expansion glass filler, a method of manufacturing the same and a glass frit including the same, and more particularly, a low expansion glass filler with which the coefficient of thermal expansion of a glass frit is adjusted, a method of manufacturing the same and a glass frit including the same.
Description of Related Art
Electronic devices, such as an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), an integrated circuit (IC) ceramics passage, a quartz oscillator, an image display device and a photovoltaic cell, are required to be hermetically sealed to minimize external influences, such as moisture and gas, in order to improve the performance and longevity thereof. In particular, OLEDs are regarded as next-generation display technology due to their advantages, such as a high response speed, a self-heating characteristic that precludes the necessity of a backlight, ability to make it possible to fabricate ultra-thin panels, low power consumption and a wide viewing angle. However, OLEDs also have the drawback of being sensitive to moisture and air. In order to overcome this, the space between the upper and lower glass substrates which protect an OLED device is hermetically sealed using a glass frit.
The glass frit that is used as a sealing material for hermetically sealing electrical devices is manufactured by preparing a frit powder by adding V2O5 or Fe2O3 to a glass composition and then mixing a ceramic filler to the frit powder.
Pertaining to such a glass frit, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2010-0084476 by Hitachi discloses a low melting point glass frit that is manufactured by producing glass powder by putting V2O5, MnO, Fe2O3 or the like into a glass composition and melting the resultant glass mixture, and then mixing a low expansion ceramic filler to the glass powder. In addition, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2010-0049651 by Yamato discloses a glass frit that is manufactured by mixing a low expansion ceramic filler to V2O5—BaO—ZnO glass.
The low expansion ceramic filler that is mixed to glass powder is cordierite, eucryptite, Al2O3, zirconium tungstate phosphate (ZWP) or the like. However, such low expansion ceramic fillers have an opaque white color and reflect part of the laser light that is applied during sealing, which is problematic. Consequently, the glass frit is not sufficiently heated such that the bonding force is reduced. When the laser power is increased in order to overcome this, a panel is damaged, which is problematic.
The information disclosed in the Background of the Invention section is provided only for better understanding of the background of the invention, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this information forms a prior art that would already be known to a person skilled in the art.